Canadians' holiday travel pet peeves

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Canadians love to travel, especially around the holidays, but we hate rush-hour at the airport and we hate paying unexpected fees.

A study by Travelocity.ca found 66% of Canadians schedule travel at off-peak times to avoid crowds. The study also found 38% name unexpected costs (such as bag fees) as their biggest pet peeve about travelling.

The next most annoying bits about travel were delays (36%), complainers (28%) and travel etiquette mistakes such as armrest hogs, excessive seat recliners and seat-switchers (25%).

It seems more experienced fliers make better travel companions or seat mates -- or at least they think they do. According to the study, 8% of travellers 55 and older admit to making travel faux pas, compared to 9% of those aged 35-55 and 12% of those age 18 to 34.

This still means the vast majority of Canadians think they’re very well behaved at the airport or on the plane. The study found 62% of Canadians won’t admit to causing travel annoyances. Travelocity.ca also reported a slight difference between men and women on that front. For women, 65% said they don’t cause travel problems. For men, it was 60%.

The study found a majority of Canadians (56%) are selective about who they’ll travel with. Fifty seven per cent of Canadians said they love travelling, but other people’s annoying travel habits deter them from doing things they enjoy.

The study also found men are slightly less likely to travel during the holidays or will travel at off-peak times to reduce aggravation (67% versus 64% for women).

Travelocity.ca interviewed 1,513 Canadian adults for the online survey between Nov. 14 and 15, 2016.